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Kenya is a country of diversity ranging from ethnic to gender, language, class, political affiliation, and religion among others. Unfortunately, conflicts along diversity fault lines are far too common due to failure to embrace and manage our differences. In almost all election years, ethno-political violence rears its ugly head, leaving in its wake a wave of death, destruction and highly polarized communities. Unequal gender relations have resulted in negative and harmful masculinities and femininities that normalize violence as a way of dealing with conflict. Religious intolerance has led to profiling of and general mistrust of some communities as well as individuals professing certain faiths. In addition, Kenya is increasingly becoming a country of “haves and have nots” thus generating mutual mistrust and resentment across the divide.  This is especially the case in urban informal settlements and low-income areas. These areas are not only highly cosmopolitan but they are also a clear manifestation of social and economic inequality. Therefore, they become easy hot spots of violence that is based on manipulation of diversity as well as capitalization of feelings of exclusion and marginalization. It is against this background that CEEC with the support of GIZ-CPS, is implementing a project that seeks to promote respect for diversity among youth in five informal settlements in Nairobi namely Kibra, Korogocho, Mathare, Dandora and Kawangware.   The project kicked off with a 3 days’ training, which was held from 14^th to 16^th April 2019. The training sought to strengthen the capacity of youth to promote cohesion building through recognizing, resisting and condemning manipulation of diversity. This is the message that the trainees were expected to take to their peers through a series of community conversations and radio talk shows.

CEEC has since 2014 been implementing gender based violence prevention and response as well as governance projects in Burnt Forest, Uasin Gishu County with support from GIZ-CPS. To avoid the communities’ dependence and enhance the sustainability of the work that CEEC has done, a People First Impact Method (P-FiM) http://p-fim.org/  training for 25 community members from the target area was conducted in March 2018 by CPS-GIZ in conjunction with CEEC. Part of the training involved facilitation of community conversations for eight groups of community members (Village Elders, People Living with Disabilities, Youth, Single Mothers, Farmers, Religious Leaders, Business Community and Boda Boda Operators). After the training, GIZ-CPS supported CEEC to implement P-FiM follow up activities between July and October 2018. The trainees went through refresher training in July 2018 after which they conducted three sets of follow up community conversations on 5^th July, 30^th August and 24^th October respectively. The conversations were facilitated by the 25 P-FiM trainees who were organized in teams of three (Facilitator, Rapporteur and Observer). All sets of community conversations were conducted with the same set of participants and they sought to identify pertinent issues within the community, prioritize them and generate home grown solutions to address them. Some of the challenges that the community decided to address were high cost of farm inputs, low prices of maize, illicit brews, poor road networks and youth idleness/unemployment. Consequently, they initiated the following interventions in response to the identified challenges:

• New farming methods (e.g. Poultry, Dairy, Horticultural etc.), table banking as well as getting experts on alternative farming methods.
• Community sensitization on illicit brews
• Generating solutions to some of the issues that were negatively affecting them e.g. Coming together to unclog the drainage system and conducting minor repairs on some of the impassable roads and bridges instead of waiting for the government to do it.
• The youth group formed a football club and also started an income generating project. From the contributions they were making, they started a poultry farming project and bought a motor bike to help them run the project more effectively.
• The Single Mothers Group started table banking as well as a Poultry farming project.
• People Living with Disabilities Group had started making monthly contributions to start an income generating activity. They were also waiting for their certificate of registration to enable them approach the County Government for support.
• The Boda Boda Group had started making monthly contributions to boost their business. They were planning to ensure that all members got the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) card and also that they were all trained and had licences.

The P-FiM trainers also registered a community self- help group to assist them in carrying out their activities in a more structured manner as well enable them to access government funds to address community challenges.

On 29^th October 2018, CEEC with support from GIZ-CPS launched a handbook titled; Promoting Gender Inclusive Governance: A Handbook for Women Members of County Assembly at the Emory Hotel in Nairobi. The launch brought together Women MCA’s from Muranga, Kiambu, Nairobi, Makueni, Kirinyaga and Baringo Counties. The handbook is a simplified guide for women MCAs on how to effectively discharge their mandate of representation, legislation and oversight. It provides general information on County Assembly procedures as well as strategies that Women MCAs can use to promote gender equity and equality. It also provides tips on how to build social and political capital within and outside the assemblies. The handbook aims at strengthening the quality of leadership by women MCAs, hopefully leading to increased chances of election or re-election. Increased numbers of women leaders and improved quality of the leadership they provide would ultimately contribute to gender inclusive in governance.

With the support of GIZ-CPS, CEEC implemented the project Building the Capacity of Women MCAs from Nairobi and Kiambu Counties to Promote Gender Inclusive Governance between June and October 2018. The activities under this project were; a series of three days’ trainings between June and July 2018 for a total of 38 women MCA’s, networking meeting in August 2018, monitoring the two County Assemblies’ Hansards, development of a Women MCAs Handbook as well as launch of the Handbook which took place in October 2018 alongside project evaluation.  The twin objective of the project was to increase the capacity of Women MCA’s to discharge their mandate of representation, legislation and oversight as well as  advancing women political leadership through increased visibility in their respective wards through community engagement. In a male dominated political structure, women MCA’s face challenges such as inadequate capacity to discharge their mandate, lack of support from some male colleagues, women not supporting each other, weak Women Caucuses, financial constraints within the Women Caucuses and women giving in to “Divide and Rule” tactics from male colleagues.

The training equipped the women MCAs with knowledge and skills to build social and political capital within and outside the Assemblies. As a result of the training the MCAs actively participated in debates, moved bills and tabled motions in their respective County Assemblies. This was confirmed by a review of the Hansard from both Nairobi and Kiambu Counties as well as the project evaluation. Notable success stories reported included, moving a motion on equipping County residents with first aid skills, issuing statements on county matters, contributing to the budgeting process, integrating a gender perspective into house proceedings notably during a motion on the nomination of a woman as CEC for Health in Kiambu County and supporting a motion for nomination of a woman as a member of the Speakers Panel in Nairobi County. At the community level, the trained Women MCAs understood that they have a right to serve residents of their wards even if they are nominated and not elected. Using the skills they acquired, they therefore started lobbying for support from their elected colleagues as well as the executive. Examples of projects they initiated in their wards are; supporting the elderly, orphaned children and partnering with well-wishers in the private sector to donate school supplies like books and uniforms to needy children. Feedback from the trained Women MCAs indicated that their improved capacity as a result of the project had enabled them to better articulate gender issues (generally) and women’s issues (specifically).

Overall, the Women MCAs reported to have gained confidence to discharge their duties and a new resolve to forge on. Some who wanted to give up on a political career decided to not only stay the course but also aim at higher offices in 2022. The legislators attributed these positive outcomes to the knowledge and skills they acquired from the project.

On 19th and 20th September 2017, seventeen women from Murang’a and Nairobi Counties who vied for the MCA seats during the 2017 General Election converged at Sagana Getaway resort to share their experiences. They gave harrowing accounts of violence perpetrated against them and members of their families. They also narrated how the entire electoral process was riddled with numerous irregularities, malpractices and offences which they were helpless to do anything about. Reports to security agents and other relevant bodies did not result in any action being taken. The objective of the forum was to help amplify the women’s voices in order to reach various stakeholders who are mandated with promoting gender equity and equality in the electoral process. These include political parties, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) and the Police. The women’s experiences will therefore be compiled into a publication which will be shared with all these duty bearers. From the stories, it was clear that most women lose during elections mainly due to the electoral malpractices meted against them and not because of lack of merit. Those who participated in the forum were grateful to get an opportunity to get together and share not only the challenges they faced but also their struggles as they pick up the pieces and move on. The forum was therefore very therapeutic for them.

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12 Murang’a County Assembly women aspirants met at Eton Hotel in Thika on  24^th April 2017 for an evaluation meeting concluding the second phase of the GIZ/CPS funded project Women and Governance: Building the capacity of Murang’á County Assembly Women  Aspirants to vie for the 2017 General Election. The meeting sought to review the project activities which included a 5 days’ training, a visit to the Murang’a County Assembly and a media strategy under which the aspirants recorded campaign features that aired on Inooro Radio.

The women aspirants reported that their capacity to vie for the MCA position in their respective wards had been strengthened in several ways. First, the training had increased their knowledge and helped them develop skills in various aspects that are essential while vying for the seat of Member of County Assembly. They had a better understanding of the electoral process, had prepared their manifestos and campaign budgets, branded themselves, conducted grassroots mobilization, were better at resource mobilization and they were able to manage their campaigns more effectively. Secondly, the visit to the Murang’a County Assembly helped them better understand how the business of the house is conducted. Lastly, the features aired on Inooro Radio increased their visibility in their wards and made the electorate have more confidence in them. The project had therefore achieved its objectives by reducing some of the challenges women face in their quest for political leadership.

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Under the second phase of the project Women and Governance: Building the Capacity of Murang’a County Assembly Women Aspirants to vie for the 2017 General Election, CEEC with support from GIZ/CPS conducted a training of 13 women aspirants from 27th February to 3rd March 2017. To help the women have a feel of what to expect if they get elected, CEEC organized a tour to the Murang’a County Assembly which took place on 31st March 2017. Although the county assembly was in recess, the visit was helpful because the aspirants got to learn how the house business is conducted.  Topics covered included mandate, roles and functions of the County Assembly, the law making process, the link between the legislative and executive arms of county governments, the devolved functions of the county assembly vis-a-vis the national assembly, decorum in the assembly and the general operations of the house. The session helped the aspirants disabuse some of the myths they had about what they would be able to do if elected. This meant they were now able to engage with the electorate from a more informed position, without promising to do things that were beyond their mandate.

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Thirime Stadium in Kikuyu played host to Kikuyu Ward Positive Masculinities Tournament on 26^th March 2017. The lively tournament that had fans chanting “Tuwache Ngori” which means “let’s stop causing trouble” resonated with the tournament theme of combating Gender Based Violence by embracing positive masculinities. This was under the DKA Austria funded project “Working with young men to combat Gender Based Violence”. The tournament was organized by young men from Kikuyu Ward who were trained on gender based violence prevention and response from 31^st January to 3^rd February 2017. The trainees took advantage of soccer which provides a wide constituency of young men to spread the message that the youth hold the key in redefining masculinities leading to healthier men, women and communities.

From the initial 20 participating teams, four of them proceeded to the semi- finals on the 26^th. All the eight teams that qualified for the quarter finals were awarded balls, while the two that emerged winners in the semi- finals were awarded a set of uniforms in addition to the balls. CEEC and the team officials used the tournament to sensitize the players and their fans on the need to embrace positive masculinities to combat gender based violence. The young men were encouraged to speak against gender based violence, maintain peaceful relations and be agents of change in the society.  They committed to stop using their masculinity destructively and instead vowed to use it in ways that are beneficial to them and the society at large.

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CEEC, with support from GIZ/CPS has been working with Murang’a County Assembly Women Aspirants since November 2016 with the aim of strengthening their capacity to vie for the 2017 General Election. This is under the project, Women and Governance: Building the Capacity of Murang’a County Assembly Women Aspirants to vie for the 2017 General Election. The first phase was implemented in 2016 and the second phase started with a five days’ training of 13 aspirants held at SACDEP, Thika from 27th February to 3rd March 2017. During the training, the women identified inability to engage the media due to the costs involved as one of the challenges they were facing. In view of this, CEEC organized for the aspirants to record features at Inooro Radio which aired twice per day  from 27^th March to 7^th April 2017 . The features contained information such as which wards the women are vying in and what they plan to do if elected. This enabled the aspirants reach a wide audience with their campaign messages within their respective wards.